ABSTRACT
The initial idea of Arctic-wide cooperation was launched in 1987 in Murmansk by
former Soviet Secretary-General Michail Gorbachev. The Soviet leader proposed that
the Arctic states could initiate cooperation in various fields, one of these being
protection of the Arctic environment.176 This idea was concretized in part when
Finland convened a conference o f the eight Arctic states - Canada, Denmark, Finland,
Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Russian Federation and the United States - in
Rovaniemi in 1989 to discuss the issue of protecting the Arctic environment. After
two additional preparatory meetings in Yellowknife, Canada, and Kiruna, Sweden,
the eight Arctic states, as well as other actors met again in Rovaniemi in 1991 to sign
the Rovaniemi Declaration, by which they adopted the Arctic Environmental
Protection Strategy (hereinafter ’the Strategy’).177 In the Declaration, the states
resolved to ’adopt the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy and commit
[themselves] to take steps towards its implementation and consider its further
176 Gorbachev proposed that a nuclear-weapon-free zone be declared in northern Europe; naval activity be limited in the seas adjacent to northern Europe; peaceful cooperation be the basis for utilizing the resources o f the Arctic; scientific study of the Arctic has great significance for all mankind; the countries o f the North cooperate in matters of environmental protection; the Northern Sea Route be opened by the Soviet Union to ice-breaker escorted passage. For an analysis, see Rothwell 1996, pp. 229-231. 177 The history of the negotiation process is described in Rothwell 1996, pp. 229-242 and Tennberg 1998, pp. 53-61. A brief presentation can be found in Caron 1993, pp. 378-379.
